As part of its bid to grab overseas investment dollars, the Metropica development team recently held a training event for the EB-5 program that allows foreign nationals to reside in the U.S. after making an investment in a job-creating venture stateside.
The event, attended by agents from ONE Sotheby’s International Realty, the Brickell Realty Group and others, featured presentations from attorneys Julian F. Montero of Arnstein & Lehr and Jeffrey Brown of New Penn Financial, who spoke about EB-5 and Metropica’s Fannie Mae approval.
The EB-5 program grants a visa to foreign investors who spend a minimum of $500,000 on an enterprise in a rural or high-unemployment area. It removes that requirement if the investment is above $1 million. Metropica is a 65-acre, mixed-use project in western Broward County that’s slated to bring eight residential towers with 1,900 units, as well as 400,000 square feet of retail and 600,000 square feet of offices when completed. Its first condo tower, YOO at Metropica, broke ground in October 2015 and has so far sold 50 percent of its 263 units.
Metropica is one of several South Florida condo projects seeking foreign capital to help finance development costs. Jeff Berkowitz, who’s developing the SkyRise Miami observation tower, has been one of Miami’s most notable proponents of EB-5, saying late last year on a discussion panel that he would sue the federal government if it bolstered restrictions for the program. – Sean Stewart-Muniz